Stilettos
by DemolitionLvr
Summary: When Raven's powers disappear inexplicably, she leaves her life as a Titan & ends up in Gotham. There, meeting Catwoman changes her views on life and morality. But the real adventure starts when Raven, now a disciple of a thief, returns to Jump to catch Robin's attention, but catches the eye of rival thief, Red X, too. Can you say triangle?
1. Chapter 1

**Stilettos Chapter One**

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A crackly speaker informed Raven that she had slept through the whole train ride, missing her stop in New York, and sticking her in Gotham. After all she'd been through in the past few weeks, Robin's home city was the last place she had wanted to end up.

Nevertheless, the train would go no further, and she had to take her duffel bag and get off. She would leave first thing tomorrow morning.

Gotham's train station set a precedent for the rest of the city: crowded, dirty, and crime-heavy. Raven would have gotten her wallet picked from her jeans pocket three times if she didn't have a demon's senses. Not a power, just part of her physicality. They had remained even when her other powers vanished.

She pushed her way out of the station, and found more peace on the streets. Most Gothamites stayed safely at home at- Raven pushed the sleeve of her dark green hoodie back and checked her watch- a quarter past one.

She headed North. A random decision. She would find a hotel somewhere.

While casually walking up the blocks, she passed a purse-snatcher in the act. Though sure it was a common occurrence, even under the Batman's watch, she swiftly lifted her leg and kicked the teenaged crook in the face as he passed her. He hit the pavement hard. She kept moving without hearing the victim's gratitude.

"Gotham is a dangerous city," Robin told them ages ago. Now, seeing firsthand the commonplace lack of morality, she knew just what he meant. Thank Azar, she thought, most people know better than to walk the streets at night alone. She couldn't stomach playing hero tonight. She didn't think she ever could again.

Heading North was a good choice, she decided after a few more minutes walking. If she wanted to avoid dabbling in heroism again, it would be prudent to avoid areas in need of a hero. The area she had made her way into looked less _notorious_ to her. She'd been wrong before, though.

As she walked slowly up the blocks in pursuit of lodging, she listened to the city. Hailing from the pocket dimension temple of Azarath, she found urban areas fascinating. At night particularly, the air was free of the harsh honking of cars and people pushing and rushing, and instead half-filled by the tapping of a few heels, the humming of the occasional cars, the murmur of conversations leaking from open apartment windows. Occasionally a motorcycle in the distance shattered the city's easiness with a loud rev, keeping it awake and on its toes.

In the middle of the city's sounds, a cat screamed its meow. Raven stopped next to the alley in which she heard the cat. She considered leaving it, but her conscience wouldn't allow her to abandon a helpless creature in pain.

She found the cat holed up in a corner made by a dumpster and the alley wall. It looked filthy, but it had a collar around its neck. Its owner was probably searching the city for it. If they cared. Maybe they threw the cat away.

Raven shook her pessimism away. Gotham was getting to her. The dangerous and downcast mood made her less pleasant than usual.

She took a careful step towards the cat. As she approached, its black fur rose along its spine, and it hissed violently. It tried to threaten her with its claws, but the movement only seemed to aggravate its wound, and it curled back up in pain.

Even more slowly, Raven took another step towards the cat. In too much pain, all the cat could do was growl at her approach. Raven didn't stop, and knelt down a foot from the cat, murmuring reassurances and promises to the creature.

After a minute or two of calming the cat, Raven thought it would be safe to check for the wound. So, very carefully, she scratched behind the cat's ears with one hand to distract it while her other hand attempted to stretch out the cat's legs.

When she touched the cat's left leg, it shrieked at her, clawed and bit at her hand. Back to square one, Raven sat back on her calves, quietly talking to the cat as it growled and hissed at her.

Though the process took another while to calm the animal enough to approach again, Raven was invested, and determined to help the cat. Now that she knew the injury was in the left leg, she knew what she could do. She felt it spark at her fingers. Her heart pounded in anticipation, and doubt fled.

The cat growled suspiciously as Raven's left hand approached its leg. The growl grew to a hiss the closer she got. The cat seemed on the verge of attacking her when Raven broke through a barrier deep within her mind and managed to force power out of her fingertips.

The blue glow frightened the cat at first, but as it began removing the pain of- the cat was female, Raven realized- her broken leg, she slowly calmed. Raven took the cat's pain, and grimaced as she felt the break healing.

Raven's vicarious pain ebbed away, and while the cat tried standing on her newly healed leg, Raven stared down at her hand incredulously. Hope grew as she stood and reached into the deep recesses of her mind for the power she used to command. She tried to release her soul-self as she had used to do, quietly reciting her mantra, stale on her lips after only a few weeks of disuse. The power, though, however she tried to summon it, eluded her, refusing to come as it had so easily for years.

Raven would have cried if she wasn't so used to burying her emotions. She felt the loss of her powers all over again. She felt the emptiness.

Grateful and feeling forgotten, the cat rubbed against Raven's legs, pulling her out of her self-pity before it consumed her. Raven's eyes softened at the sight of the now affectionate animal, and she knelt back down to accept the simpler creature's love.

As she rubbed the cat behind her ears, she watched as the purring ball of fur tried crawling up into her lap. Smiling very slightly, the half-demon gently coaxed her into her arms, and stood. While the cat found a comfortable position in her hold, Raven started walking out of the alley.

Before she could step onto the street, an arm flew out to halt her progress. Not afraid of a fight, Raven reacted quickly, jumping back a step to face the aggressor. It turned out to be a slender and very pretty woman around her late twenties.

While Raven assessed the situation in her head, she barely noticed the cat in her arms start to squirm until it jumped fully out of her arms and into the hold of the other woman.

"Isis, what were you doing? I've been looking all over for you," the blonde woman scolded the cat, which purred and meowed in response, rubbing her face against the woman's.

She finally looked up at Raven and introduced herself, "I'm Selina Kyle. Thank you for what you did for Isis."

Raven shook her head, saying, "I didn't do anything, just found her."

Selina raised an eyebrow at the younger woman. "You consider healing powers to be nothing? I must say, Hun, I disagree."

Raven looked at her with shock. Selina laughed. "Yes, I saw what you did. But there's no need to worry: I have no intentions of telling anyone, if that's what you're afraid of. Anyone who would save my cat is a friend of mine," she assured with a kind smile. Raven relaxed.

"Thanks. I'm Raven," she said simply.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Hun. Now, you must be new to Gotham," Selina guessed. Raven nodded. "I thought so. Most locals would never be out at this time, unless they're doing something Batman would disapprove of." Selina laughed at some personal joke Raven couldn't fathom. "Where are you staying, and for how long?"

"I don't know, I was just looking for a hotel. I'm only staying the night. I meant to get off the train in New York, but I slept through the stop," Raven admitted.

"A hotel? Don't be silly. You can stay with me tonight," Selina offered.

"Really? Why?"

Selina smiled. "Because I owe you for saving my cat, and Gotham hotels are not very nice. Now come on, I insist."

Raven surprised herself by accepting the offer graciously. Selina told her that her apartment was just a block away, and they started walking that direction, Isis happily following.

"So, Raven, where are you from?" Selina asked as they strolled down the block.

"I just left Jump City," Raven answered honestly enough, avoiding her original home.

Selina whistled. "That's a long way. Don't tell me you took the train across the whole country?" Raven nodded. "Wow. So, what are you running away from?"

The blunt question surprised Raven, mostly because of its accuracy. She breathed deeply, considering her answer. "The people who cared about me, the city that knew me, and the memories of something I just lost," she finally confessed.

Selina hummed at that. She looked at Raven with a knowing smile, saying, "Very deep but entirely too vague to tell anything. Very well done. I think I'm going to like you."

Raven raised an eyebrow, but didn't offer anything more.

"So, you lost something, and in the aftermath of that, your loved ones must have been very worried about you, enough that you wanted to get away... And if the city knew you, you must have been some sort of public figure," Selina began surmising.

Raven's eyes narrowed. She told her new acquaintance, "You know, curiosity killed the cat."

Selina burst out laughing at that, leaving Raven left out of whatever esoteric joke she found in the proverb. Still laughing, Selina opened the door to a very nice looking apartment building and waved Raven in.

Selina, Isis in her arms again, followed Raven into the clean and modern lobby, getting her mirth under control, though still smiling. They started towards the elevators across the room inhabited only by the doorman. As they walked, Selina told Raven, "Sorry Hun, that was just very appropriate for me. I'm very nosy, so you'll have to excuse me."

Raven shrugged. "It's not a big deal."

Selina tipped her chin in consideration. "Maybe, but it might become one, 'cause I'm going to keep asking. Is what happened a secret, or are you just a closed person?" she asked.

"I've always been very private."

Selina pressed the elevator's call button, and let Isis down. "I've never found that a very attractive quality. Everyone always feels better when they talk things out. So go on, tell me everything," she cajoled with a Cheshire cat grin.

They stepped onto the elevator, and Selina pressed the penthouse button. With Isis rubbing herself contentedly against both women's legs, Raven asked, "What do you do to stay in a penthouse apartment in Gotham?"

"I'm in a very lucrative trading business," Selina told her. "Don't change the subject."

Raven sighed. "I guess it's not a secret. Public knowledge, actually. There's really no reason not to tell you." Raven leaned down and scratched Isis behind her ears, hesitating. "Ever heard of the Teen Titans?"

"Baby Hero Squad out in Cali? Sure," Selina said.

Raven stood back up, leaving Isis to meow for more attention. "Is that how people see the Titans?" She asked, disappointed.

Selina shrugged. "I don't know. I make fun of everything."

Raven snorted. "Great. Years of work protecting a city from monsters and maniacs," she mumbled.

"So you're the witch Raven?" Selina guessed, very interested.

"I am not a witch. I am half-demon," she corrected.

Selina looked at the girl closely. "You don't look demonic. Your mother must have been quite the looker to make her half-demon daughter pretty."

"You're not very sensitive, are you?" Raven asked.

"Not at all. I much prefer to be honest, open, and playful," Selina said proudly as the elevator dinged and the doors opened.

"No kidding," Raven agreed as they both stepped off.

"So why'd you leave the Titans?" Selina asked.

"I lost my powers."

"How?"

"No idea," Raven said and pursed her lips.

"But what about healing Isis?" Selina started walking down a short hall to her penthouse door, pulled out her key, and opened the door.

Raven shrugged and followed Selina into the apartment. "I'm not quite sure how that happened. My healing power just reappeared." She looked around the large, well furnished room without comment. Isis ran into another room and returned with three other cats, come to meet Raven.

"Don't you think that could mean the rest of your powers might just reappear?"

Raven looked back from the circling and sniffing cats to Selina, who had gone into the open kitchen, and told her, "I don't think so. Somehow, I think this happened for a reason. Either they'll never come back, or maybe I have to do something." She sighed, "I don't know."

"Don't worry, Hun. I'm sure it'll all work out," Selina reassured. She put out several animal bowls and filled them with cat food. The four cats investigating Raven, along with three others who appeared from another room, went to go eat.

"Would you like a drink?" Selina asked.

"Sure, thanks."

"Wine?"

"Red, if you have it," Raven answered.

"My kind of girl," Selina said as she uncorked a bottle and got out two glasses.

Selina lead them into the living room and they sat down on the couch.

"So the thing you lost was your powers, but that doesn't mean you had to quit the hero biz. I mean, none of the Bat-family have powers, and they're doing well," Selina said. "So was it about your friends?"

Raven took a sip of her wine. It was good. "I guess. After their tests to find what was wrong came up blank, they got annoyingly protective on missions, and I felt useless and guilty. So I took it out on them, and it got weird to hang out with them. I got really reclusive, and I was making them worry, and I was miserable. So for all our sakes, a couple of days ago I left a note and took the train to St Louis, then from there to D.C., then to New York... Which turned into Gotham. I couldn't stay in Jump, because people there had expectations of me. If someone expected me to save them because they thought I still had the power to lift boulders with telekinesis, they could get killed. It was better to stay out of the way, especially out of the Titans' way."

Selina laughed, surprising Raven. She told her young guest, "You have way too much weight on your shoulders for someone so young. How old are you, by the way?"

"Nineteen. You?"

"I'm nineteen as well," Selina said with a grin. At Raven's look, she admitted, "Fine, twenty-eight. But never tell anyone that, or I'll have to kill you."

Raven smiled simply. The two women sat quietly for a few minutes, as they finished their first glasses of wine.

As Selina walked back from the kitchen with refilled glasses, she asked, "What does it mean that you're half-demon?"

Raven gave her a funny look. "It means that my father was a demon," she said, tone telling Selina, 'Duh.'

"No," Selina clarified, "I mean, how does it make you different from humans? Besides previously having supernatural powers."

Raven shrugged. "Not much, really. My senses are heightened marginally. But I eat the same food, have the same anatomy and all that." She thought a minute before saying, "I mean, I guess I have a demonic side of my mind, but I suppress it."

"Like a split personality or something?"

"Not quite. It's more like my human side is my conscience, and my demon side is comprised of urges for indulgence and general rule-breaking." Raven rolled her eyes. "It's not very different than a human's moral compass, except that I can't ever allow the less moral side any reign."

Selina looked very interested. "Have you ever _tried_ letting it out?"

Raven shook her head. "I'm afraid of what would happen if I did. I was born to be a portal to allow my father, basically the supreme demon lord of evil, entry to this dimension. I've spent my whole life trying to make up for that, so to do anything to cause harm was never an option."

"And did you allow him into this dimension?" Selina asked.

Raven looked guilty as she said, "Briefly. But I banished him."

Selina reached over and gripped Raven's shoulder. "Sweetie, you don't have to feel guilty for existing. You can't choose your parents, and you can't walk on eggshells forever because of them. I think you should try some guilty pleasures. Breaking a few rules and treating yourself well would do you a lot of good," Selina told Raven sincerely.

"Even if I didn't feel like I had to make up for being what I am, that doesn't make me want to try a life of crime," Raven said.

Selina laughed. "I didn't start because I wanted to, Hun. _Necessity_ is great motivation... But then the _thrill_ hooked me."

Raven looked at her new acquaintance with new eyes. Suddenly the clues connected in her mind.

"You're Catwoman," she realized out loud.

Selina grinned. "The one and only."

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**A/N:** Another new story. I absolutely adore this one (or at least, what's in my head). I love writing Selina. She's nosy (yes, because curiosity killed the cat) and playful (like a cat, or a flirtatious theif), and I just really like her. I can't wait to write some BMCW moments. Dunno how long this will be in the long run. But I have the end written up, just have to get there. Hopefully with your support.

Cheers.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed, favorited, and followed Chapter one! I hope you enjoy this one as well. **

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Raven, Catwoman, Batman, Robin, Gotham City, or any other characters or locations mentioned herein, or the Teen Titans. They are the sole property of DC Comics and WB, and are being used by me for entertainment purposes only. I make no money off of their use. (Made this extra long and encompassing because I forgot it in chapter 1. I do that a lot.)

**A/N: I thought I should mention that this story's Catwoman and Batman are based on Batman: The Animated Series (which I also disclaim).**

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**Stilettos Chapter 2**

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Raven looked down at herself, then looked enviously back at her companion. Raven was dressed in a borrowed outfit: a tight dark purple dress, floor-length but slit down one leg from hip to floor, with long sleeves and gloves. There had been a cape on it, but she hadn't liked it, so she had removed it. A mask covered her forehead and wrapped under her chin, and gave her cats ears. Goggles shielded her eyes. A long black wig flowed out from under the mask rather than her own purple hair. Raven didn't like the costume. She thought it old-fashioned and inconvenient. Her companion, however, was clad in a tight leather body suit that enhanced every one of her curves, almost to the point of looking like a hooker rather than a thief. But no one in Gotham, the shadowy metropolis that rose around them, wouldn't recognize Catwoman. A black, cat-eared mask almost the same as Raven's, and goggles, covered Selina Kyle's face as the two women sauntered casually on the roof of a single story building.

Raven wished for her old leotard- not to mention her powers- as she yanked once again at the skirt of the dress. Frustrated with the limited movement in her left leg- the side not slit- she used the sharp nails of the gloves she wore to tear a matching slit into that side of the dress, not caring that it belonged to the other woman.

"Hey," Selina protested with half a scowl.

Raven sighed. "This is a bad idea," she said evenly.

Catwoman rolled her eyes. "So you've said ten times. Yet you're still here. Either stop complaining or just leave."

Raven pursed her lips slightly as she looked at her recent acquaintance. After a moment, she shrugged. "So how are we going to do this?" she asked. She looked around the area. Judging by the taller buildings that surrounded them, she believed them to be on the roof of an upscale jewelery store, the snobby kind that required appointments in order to view the merchandise.

Catwoman smiled knowingly. She hadn't doubted that Raven would stay. Her intuition told her that this girl wasn't suited to be the squeaky clean do-gooder for the rest of her life. She knew the feeling; Batman had gotten her to play the hero for a couple of months once or twice. She could never stick to the diet. She had a lot she could teach Raven about the less accepted way of life. Still grinning, she walked over to an air vent. With a few twists of her clawed hand, she opened the vent and jumped in. Looking around behind them, Raven followed.

In the shaft, both on hands and knees, Catwoman told her young friend, "We had to get out of the open. One never knows in this city where one might get spotted by a Bat." She chuckled quietly to herself. She started crawling in a seemingly random shaft, but told Raven over her shoulder, "I know my way around this place pretty well. I come here every few months. They keep upgrading security, but they never do anything about these vents. I figured it would be a good way to get your feet wet."

Raven trailed Catwoman through the ventilation shafts until Catwoman found the room she was looking for and stopped above a vent. She smiled back at Raven before twisting the screws off silently and dropping through the opening, Raven following. Both landed nimbly in a small room, one wall of which was taken up by a very impressive looking safe.

A man was seated in the corner, on guard. He stood up, shouting, "Hey!" and pulled his gun from its holster. Raven froze. She stared at the man about to shoot her, and for a moment she wondered why she was suddenly the person in the wrong, on the other side of a protector's weapon. She should be the one stopping crime. She had only ever tried to protect people; it's all she had ever done.

Catwoman cartwheeled over to the man, and expertly cracked her whip at his hand. He dropped the gun with a cry of pain before the burglar kicked him in the stomach, knocking him into the wall. He slumped to the marble floor, unconscious. The seasoned crook turned to her rookie partner and, seeing the conflict in the younger woman's eyes, decided to stay quiet. Instead of scolding the former hero for her leftover instincts, she decided to show her the enticing part of the job. Smirking, Catwoman sashayed over to the safe.

"Hun, would you be a dear and toss me that man's employee I.D.?" she asked Raven, avoiding calling her by name, sensitive of the surveillance cameras. Raven nodded and did as she was asked. She avoided looking at the man's face, but couldn't avoid seeing that his name was Benjamin Fuller. Giving a name to the innocent victim of their crime made all of the morals of her past life protest.

Closing her eyes for a moment, she stamped down her old morals. The temporary suppression would do for now, considering her practice in controlling her emotions and thoughts. But she would have to deal with her moral conflict on a deeper level. Later.

She tossed the I.D. to Catwoman, who swiped it to open the control panel of the safe. Looking down at the locks, she said happily, "Fabulous." Raven walked over to see as Catwoman exclaimed, "Oh, I love it when they use thumbprint locks! They're so easy."

With a few practiced techniques, Catwoman had bypassed the thumbprint lock. She waited eagerly for the safe to open, but was disappointed when the safe asked her to put in a combination on a large dial. She groaned. She hated old fashioned combination locks. She could do them, but they were touchy and troublesome.

Raven stepped up wordlessly. She put her ear to the door of the safe beside the dial, and started spinning it. Catwoman watched curiously as the girl, looking like a veteran thief in her own right, worked the lock.

Raven listened to the gears within the door turning as she went number by number until a hammer fell. She turned the knob the other direction and did the same two more times. When the door of the safe unlatched and creaked open half an inch, she felt a sense of satisfaction and a bit of pride in her accomplishment. She had just opened a safe. And now she was about to take its contents and leave. The thought made her heart pound with anticipation.

She looked at Catwoman, who raised an eyebrow. She shrugged and answered the unspoken query, "I have good hearing." Her new mentor chuckled.

"Well, are you going to open the safe?" Catwoman asked. Raven thought she saw a hint of something in her eyes, but dismissed it. Raven turned back to the safe door, and pulled it open.

Once the gap in the door was two inches wide, a shrill alarm blared.

Raven narrowed her eyes at Catwoman. "You knew that would happen."

The accused just laughed out loud in excitement, pushing Raven into the safe, crying, "Come on, this is the best part!"

Catwoman smashed open several glass display boxes and put gemstones and precious metals into her belt pockets. Feeling a little bit out of body, Raven again hesitated. Catwoman shoved a diamond necklace into her hand. Raven stared at it as her companion said, "Time to step up, hun."

Raven stopped thinking, and put the necklace into a belt compartment. She looked at the display in front of her. For some reason, she felt picky. She wanted her first illegal acquisition to be something she really loved, something personal. She saw a bracelet out of the corner of her eye, and grabbed it just before Catwoman called her to come on. She could hear her heart pound in her ears.

She shoved her grab into her pocket as she followed Catwoman out of the safe and saw a group of security guards in the room. With a quick glance Raven counted about six.

This time she didn't hesitate. She knew now that if she didn't fight these men they would shoot her or send her to prison, Selina along with her. She had already stolen something. Damage done. Getting through these men was necessary. So she did.

Raven was well practiced in hand-to-hand combat thanks to the Titan's crazy training regimens, and now that she was otherwise powerless, she silently thanked her leader for being a paranoid slave driver. Catwoman and Raven fought surprisingly well together, helping each other where they needed and never getting in each others' ways. They brought the security down quickly, especially since most of the men were fat, middle-aged, not used to actual fighting, and couldn't use their guns because they were in such a confined space.

Despite the ease of their victory, Raven still felt the adrenaline pumping in her from the encounter. Catwoman started running out of the store through the front entrance, and Raven ran after her, sprinting out of the building, bursting out in laughter as they heard sirens in the distance. Catwoman looked back at her laughing partner as she stopped at the glass front door of the building, glad she seemed to have finally started to enjoy the thrill of a heist.

The door unlocked from the inside, so the two women walked out of the front door, saw a squad car drive around the corner and ran into a nearby alleyway, disappearing into the Gotham City night. They knew the cops wouldn't search the streets for them.

Ten minutes later, Catwoman and Raven sat on the roof of a five-story apartment building, laughing together, still a little giddy from the fading adrenaline rush.

"Now," Catwoman said, sitting up and leaning towards her new student, "Show me what you got."

Raven reached into her pocket and pulled out the two items she had carried out of the jewelery store. She chucked the diamond necklace back to Catwoman, who held it up to the moonlight and admired its sparkles. Raven could practically hear her purr. Catwoman stashed the necklace, and raised an eyebrow at Raven.

The former hero held up the piece she had nicked. It was a tennis bracelet made of platinum. The links were shaped like birds, with eyes of inset onyx. Raven loved it.

"Just one?" Catwoman asked.

"It's all I wanted from there," the girl answered simply.

"So, did you enjoy that, hun?" Catwoman asked after a minute.

Raven thought for a moment. "Yeah, in the end I guess I did. It was exciting. But I still got caught up with guilt. I haven't let go of the idea that I should be the protector, not the instigator of crime."

"Have you always felt that way?"

"What way?"

"The whole, 'I must be a hero because the world is black and white' way."

Raven grimaced. "I don't know. When I was a kid I was taught morality by a group of absolute pacifist monks, so I guess I would be a bit different. But as I grew up I wanted to prove people wrong about me, prove that I wasn't just an evil devil spawn, so I tried to be perfect, spotless..."

"So you wanted to be a hero because you didn't want to be evil?" Catwoman considered that. "Well do you feel evil now?"

"Uh, no."

"Of course you don't. Because stealing a few trinkets is not evil. You can't imagine how much insurance those bastards who own that store have. We have not hurt them in any way. We're just having some fun. Rules are made to be broken."

Raven grinned ruefully. "Right. So why are we still here?"

Catwoman smiled hugely. "I'm waiting for him to show," she said surely.

Raven didn't even ask who she was talking about. She could guess. And sure enough, less than a minute later, a black form, which remind Raven of her own black soul-self when she used to travel as a great black bird, swooped down onto the roof and faced the two women.

"Catwoman," he growled, but it sounded amused rather than angry, "I hadn't seen you in a couple of weeks. I had almost thought you might have hung up the whip."

"Aw, Baby, you know me better than that. How could I live not seeing you like this?" She retorted flirtatiously.

"I think you'd manage somehow. Who are you?" Batman asked suddenly and aggressively of Raven.

Catwoman stepped forward, saying, "Oh, just a friend of mine."

"Great, there are two of you now? And why is she wearing one of your old outfits?"

Catwoman took another step towards the Dark Knight and purred, "We were on short notice and the tailor was running behind. Had to make do. Now why don't you stop asking about her and let's talk about us?"

Raven, leaning on the edge of the roof watching the masked couple, was bemused at her friend's flirting. After years of her power of empathy, she knew how to read people with or without her powers. She could tell Batman had feelings for Catwoman, but resisted, because of his hero ideology. Catwoman had no such qualms. The dynamic made for great entertainment.

Batman took a step back from the approaching cat. "Catwoman, I've been trying for years, and you're a lost cause," he said, making the woman pout. "But she can still get out."

He turned and put the full weight of his gaze on Raven, who did not back down, much to his surprise. In fact, she stood straighter and stared right back at him. Deciding that intimidation wasn't working, he went straight to his point and said, "I don't know where you came from, but wherever it was, go back there, and do not get involved with her." He pointed to Catwoman. "I do not tolerate criminals in my city. If you continue this, I will bring you both down, and you will go to prison. No matter what she says, this is not a game, and you cannot continue breaking the law without retribution. Not while I'm around."

Raven didn't say a word, despite all the comments she could have made. She didn't want to cement his poor opinion until she had decided that she would be doing this again. Plus, they had never come up with a name for her. How is someone nameless supposed to give THE Batman back-talk?

No, that could wait until next time.

Batman seemed to think that a warning was enough for that night, and grappled away to continue his patrol.

Once he was gone, Catwoman grinned like a Cheshire cat, and walked over to give Raven a pat on the back. "I don't think I've ever seen someone stare back when Bats was trying to intimidate them. That was impressive. I hope he hasn't turned you against me?" She said happily.

Raven looked at Catwoman with a bored expression, and asked, "That's what the big deal is about? That glare couldn't frighten a child on Azarath. I'm underwhelmed."

Catwoman laughed. "Oh, if he could hear that!" She grinned and offered, "Come on, let's get back. I don't know about you, but I like to get to sleep by four AM. A woman needs her beauty sleep."

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**A/N:** Hello again. I wrote this when I had a couple of days off of school due to Hurricane Sandy, but it didn't hit my town. We were lucky. However, I put off posting this for a while because I knew much of the East coast of the US was displaced from their homes, flooded, out of power, etc. My thoughts go out to those still uprooted by Sandy.

So, my excuse for not writing before this? Six AP classes; my college application (It was early decision, but it's done now, so nothing left to do but cross my fingers and wait); restarting a workout routine; my art class (it's one of my APs, but it warrants individual mention since I now spend half of my time working on some piece or another). So basically, my life is consumed. I'll try to fit in some more writing when I can. I missed it.

Please take a moment to drop a **review**. I love your comments, criticisms, encouragements, and reminders to update! Thank you!

**Cheers!**


	3. Chapter 3

_Disclaiming... Disclaiming... Disclaimed._

**Stilettos Chapter 3**

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"Why don't you like the dress? It looks great on you," Selina said, sitting back on her couch with a cup of coffee in her hand. Over her shoulder Raven could see Gotham City out the floor-to-ceiling windows, buzzing with the start of the work day and rush hour traffic.

Raven, sitting beside her friend, rolled her eyes with a seeming impatience which Selina decided to ignore. "It reminds me of what my mother wears. And it's inconvenient. I could have worn it when I had my powers, but now I need something fitted, something that won't hinder my movements, or get caught in anything."

Selina leaned back and basked luxuriously in the warmth of the mid-morning sun. From her relaxed position, she said, "Fine, we can get something more like I wear." Selina laughed, "We'll be like twins."

"I do not want cat ears."

"Well good, because that's my signature and you can't have it," Selina quipped back at her. After a moment, she added with a teasing smile, "I've been thinking about a name for you. How about Kitten?"

Raven glared at the woman, who laughed and asked, "Okay, do you have a better idea?"

"Does it have to be cat-themed?"

Selina considered that. "Well, it doesn't have to be exactly, I suppose. But it can't directly contradict it. I mean, imagine Catwoman with anything dog-related? That wouldn't do."

Raven smirked slightly at the edge of her mouth at the thought of Selina being chased by a large dog.

"We can't call you 'Raven,' obviously, but that doesn't mean it can't still have to do with birds. I mean, there are tons of heroes and villains with bird names," Selina pointed out. "There were Hawk and Dove, Hawkman and Hawkwoman, even Robin."

Raven pursed her lips at the mention of her former leader, and said nothing. She was quiet for so long that Selina looked over and found the girl brooding morosely. It made Selina's head hurt.

"Hey, is something wrong?" she asked.

"Talon."

"What?" Selina asked.

Raven turned back to the blonde. "Talon. It's sharp, dangerous, grabs what it wants, it's bird-related, it doesn't clash with Catwoman... Well?"

Selina looked into her new companion's violet eyes, and slowly a grin grew on her lips.

"I love it."

* * *

Raven had taken over the guest room of Selina's apartment in the three weeks she had been staying there, so she felt almost at home in the blue bedroom as she pulled tight leather up her thighs. The sensation was alien, considering she had used to wear a leotard, leaving her legs bare. But she couldn't say the leather felt uncomfortable once it was on. Actually, she found it quite flexible.

She found two holes and shoved her arms through, pulling the leather around her torso so she could zip up the front. The zip went slowly up her as the black material stretched to fit her shape. When it covered her chest, she let out the breath she had been holding, and twisted her torso around to test the outfit's give. The sleeveless design left her arms uncovered, which she liked because she could feel her environment. Satisfied with the top, she squatted twice to check that the bottom wouldn't rip. That would be mortifying.

Finally, with nothing left to test besides her appearance, Raven turned to the full-length mirror and looked at herself. Fingering her messily pixie-chopped hair, she admired the new midnight shade of it. She'd worn her hair its natural purple all her life, but she very easily accepted the new cut and color. It made her feel a bit more normal.

Then again, she thought as she looked down at her leather-clad body, there really was nothing normal about her anymore.

She spun a full circle to inspect the new costume. She had to admit, it showed off her figure to its best potential, something her old blue cloak had certainly never done. She didn't know if she liked looking so... illicit. But she supposed it came with the job.

The job of being a thief, of course.

She buried her head in her hands and laughed harshly out of pure astonishment. She was wearing a burglar's outfit, about to commit _another_ crime. Despite that, despite how shocked she was at her own actions, she laced up her black combat boots (ever practical) and walked out to meet her mentor in mischief.

Catwoman took one look at her new partner and wolf-whistled. "Sweetie, you look too good, you're going to take all the attention away from me. We can't have that, can we?"

Raven felt a slight vanity she had never known rise up at the compliment, and enjoyed the feeling, even as she answered, "Don't worry, Batman is at least ten years older than me. You have no competition from me."

"Yeah, but say I wanted to flirt with a guy on the side. Now, how an I going to do that if you are shaking your little jailbait ass right next to me?"

"I'm not jailbait," Raven corrected evenly, "I am nineteen years old. And regardless, men have always found me 'creepy.'"

Selina tutted at Raven. "You have no idea how men think, do you? If you show interest, they will reciprocate. Actually, you don't even need to look at them and they'll chase you. When these boys thought you were creepy, were you trying to encourage their affections?"

"No. I wanted to be left alone."

"There's your answer. You wanted them them to stay away, and they felt that vibe. Be even a bit less icy, and they will come running. Especially when you're showing off that body, hun," Selina assured with a wink.

"And if I don't want their attentions?" Raven asked.

Selina smiled knowingly. "Then you wouldn't be complaining that they found you creepy, would you?"

Raven had no answer for that, but she didn't need one. Selina had opened the window and shot a grapple to the next building. She pulled Raven's hand, stepped to the ledge, and called back to her, "Are you ready, Talon?"

Raven rolled her eyes, and pulled a pair of sleek aviator goggles over them, leaving her head of short black hair uncovered. Without warning she grabbed Selina's wrist in her own hand, and jumped first off the window ledge, dragging Selina with her. Selina laughed out loud at her friend's behavior as they swung through Gotham. Raven tried to hold back, but as she hung onto Selina a felt the wind rush past her masked face, as if she could fly again, she laughed into the night right along with her.

How was she so much happier here than back in Jump City with her friends? Breaking laws, having fun just for the sake of enjoying herself, it went against everything she had been taught. But for once in her life, she let go of all of her restrictions and fears, and just laughed with her friend, a criminal, as they sailed past buildings to go steal someone's possessions, and just didn't care to be moral anymore.

She just didn't care anymore.

* * *

Talon, as she was trying to think of herself, stared down the hall. The walls were overdone with portraits of people no one but the family who owned the mansion would remember. A faint buzzing surrounded them like an atmosphere, slowly grating on Talon's nerves while she waited for Catwoman to find whatever she was looking for in her utility belt.

A few moments later, right before Talon was about to snap, Catwoman made an exasperated noise and delved instead into her partner's belt.

"Hey," the greener thief objected half-heartedly.

"Got it!" Catwoman finally said happily as she pulled out a spray can the Talon recognized from when they had packed the utility belt. "I guess I forgot to put one in my belt." Catwoman commented before shaking the can and spraying the contents into the air before them. Unsurprisingly, the spray made several criss-crossing red lasers appear between them and the prize painting of the resident billionaire's private collection.

"So," Talon started, "Is this the part where we do the super-impressive gymnastics through the lasers and get out with the painting scott-free?"

Catwoman laughed. "No, don't be silly. That's way too risky for a painting. Not worth chancing it. Luckily though,"Catwoman smiled as she turned towards the wall from which the closest laser originated, "There's really only one company in this area that sets up security systems like this one, and they have a habit of making the same mistake."

She squated on her haunches in front of an outlet cover close to the floor, several inches from the laser's origin. "They always put the electrical work where they can get to it, in case of malfunctions. Which means I can get it it." She took out a mini phillips head screwdriver and removed the cover. It revealed a bunch of wires, which meant nothing to Talon, watching over the older woman's shoulder. Catwoman looked back and winked, before using wire clippers to cut a single, nondescript blue wire.

Talon looked back down the hall when the buzzing stopped, and smiled. The lasers had disappeared. She looked down at her mentor, impressed. Catwoman shrugged humbly.

They hit three more private art collectors that night. From the three nauseatingly rich men, they stole three paintings by the same artist, to trade with an enthusiast who happened to have come across a statue that Catwoman was particularly fond of. Catwoman had an appointment with the man the following night to make the trade, and after three heists both women were glad to be done for the night.

After leaving the penthouse of the third collector, the two women in black cat-suits jumped a few roofs over and sat for a chat. Even the experienced criminal hadn't counted on having to shut up a pair of bulldogs in that last job. Fortunately, Talon had been quick with a tranquilizer when one had gone for Catwoman. However, the second one barked loudly before she could get a second dart shot. As the owner of the penthouse awoke and alarms started going off, the pair had had to use the rougher, less-refined tactics in their hurry. Since alarms had already been set off, they ran through the lasers and used explosives to break into the safe where the owner had kept the painting they were there for. After that they had to sprint to avoid security men's bullets, and jump out a window they broke before even casting a line to another building. The free-fall made their hearts stop, and the jerk when their grapples caught on a building made their stomachs drops, and their adrenaline had been flowing like mad. Reveling in that rush, they just laid on the moonlit office building roof.

After a few minutes, when their heartrates had returned to normal, Talon admitted, "I could get used to this."

Catwoman laughed. "I'm sure you will, hun. It's a pretty good life."

Talon started to sit up, but ducked back down quickly, with a "whoops."

Catwoman followed her partner's eyes, asking, "What?"

"Batman at three o'clock."

Sure enough, there was the Bat, on the roof of the penthouse they had just left, looking like a skulking demon. Or, Raven thought, he would to anyone without her experience with demons.

"Wanna get out of here or do you want to talk to him?" Talon asked.

Catwoman hummed in indecision for a moment before deciding, "No, I think it would frustrate him more if he didn't find us. He'll obsess. I want him to think about us more than he thinks about the Joker or Two-Face. Let's go."

* * *

**A/N: First off, this is dedicated to SladeRavenFan, whose PM made me want to write tonight, and ninihearts, who tried to remind me to update months ago, but to whom I was kind of abrupt (Sorry). **

Now, I know that quite a few people are asking for the story to hurry up and get to Jump City, but even more people were asking for an update, straight up, so this is what I could do with the bit of time I could take. But, Raven will be taking her leave of Selina in a couple of chapters. A couple of things need to happen for set-up, and then on to that love triangle I promised in the summary. That'll be fun, but I'll miss Selina. That's one of the reasons I wanted a few solid chapters of just Selina and Raven in the beginning. That, and because I figured it would take a few weeks for Raven to actually let go of the hero-mindset and enjoy some debauchery. Ha ha.

Sorry this took a long time. I can't promise any better for chapter four, but I can promise that I'll try.

Don't forget to take a moment to review!

Cheers


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **Catwoman, Batman, Gotham City and the Teen Titans are the property of DC Comics (which is the property of Warner Bros.). I make no money from this story.

**Stilettos Chapter Four**

* * *

Raven played along with Selina for a few weeks, letting herself be pulled along in her game of Cat and Bat. She didn't mind it, for the most part. She enjoyed herself, even if she wasn't a key player in the round of romantic chess her friend was maneuvering. It was easy to sit back and observe. She had fun breaking laws at night, catching the Caped Crusader's attention and then stepping away so Selina could hold it. Those weeks were some of the most enjoyable of her life so far. For the most part.

There were times when she brooded, however. Days when she missed her old life. That was to be expected, she knew. One cannot abandon everything they know and love and expect to have no regrets.

There were moments when she and Selina were out for lunch, and Raven would crave pizza from the pizzeria in Jump City. She knew a bit of pain flashed in her eyes, and when the moment passed she hoped Selina hadn't noticed.

There were nights out in the city, whether they were just amusing themselves by swinging around Gotham, or whether they were in the middle of a high-stakes heist, when Raven would wonder what her team (she couldn't stop thinking as if she were still a part of the Titans, even though she had so clearly abandoned them) was doing. Four time zones behind her, she expected they were either fighting early evening crime, or watching movies in the main ops room.

And then there were times when Selina would finally let Batman catch her long enough to fight, their battles less of what they should be doing as hero and villian, and more struggles of built up romantic frustration. In those moments, Raven made herslf scarce, rather than be a bystander to their strange relationship. And in those short periods of solitude, something once so coveted by her, her mind wandered somewhere she didn't want it to go. She hated those moments most of all.

So, some days she felt guilty for abandoning her friends, and sometimes her heart ached missing them. But she did not dwell most of the time, and so she enjoyed those weeks. Life was good, she thought. Since she had let go of so many inhibitions, she had learned to truly enjoy simple pleasures. Her old mentality made her feel guilty when she was too happy, so she never knew such carefree contentment, nor such rushing ecstasy as she did in those days.

It was on a casual afternoon when her brooding started in earnest.

Selina loved her figure. She worked hard for it, and everyday to maintain it. She also needed to be extremely strong and fit to be in her line of work. But she couldn't stand going to gyms and dealing with men's stares when she was doing squats or running, or the attention she drew lifting heavy. So, she bought thousands of dollars of gym equipment and transformed one of the spare rooms in her penthouse into a training room.

Raven, used to the Titans' vigorous training, enjoyed working out with someone. That day, they were sparring. Not very seriously. They were hanging out more than training. Considering their heist the night before, both were still tired at nine in the morning, and too proud of themselves to really want serious work.

In this way, they chatted brokenly, pauses in the middle of sentences for a quick jab or kick, pauses in the middle of struggles to finish stories.

"So," Selina began, "when did you first notice that your powers had started disappearing?"

She had not touched upon this topic since Raven's first night in Gotham. She had sensed it was a sensitive subject, and only Raven's unfamiliarity with her environment had prompted her to be as open as she had been with her back then. Selina was glad it had, as Raven was a good friend and a fun partner in crime, but she knew that in most situations she never would have gotten a word out of the former hero.

Raven's lips pursed unhappily, and she spun out a kick at Selina. Not in an attack of malice, but merely a step in their spar. Selina ducked it, but Raven reversed and landed a knee on Selina's side. The thief huffed, but stayed upright, considering the hit had been light.

"I didn't notice anything," Raven said, frustration tinting her habitual monotone. "I was flying, eighty feet in the air." Her brows furrowed and she looked down. "All of a sudden, the place in my mind where I could reach my power, the feeling I get when I performed my magic, it disappeared, or was walled off. I started plummeting to the ground. Robin swung in and caught me."

Selina stepped forward and pivoted with her punch to Raven's face; the younger woman rolled with the hit so it grazed off of her cheek, and caught Selina's leg on her arm as it came at her. Raven bounced back on the balls of her feet, and Selina followed, shooting out her foot to trip Raven at the ankle, and using her momentary lapse in balance to land a punch. Raven ended up on her backside, glaring up at her friend.

Selina laughed victoriously, but amiably, and offered her hand, pulling Raven up while asking, "Bats are good at that, aren't they? Swooping in to save you just when you need them to?"

Raven sighed as she brushed some imagined dirt off of her pants. "Yeah, they are," she mumbled.

Without warning she lunged at Selina, grabbing her arm and tripping her, flipping Selina onto the ground. She smirked down at the burglar, who grabbed her ankle in return and pulled Raven down. She landed in a seated position.

"Ow," the bottle-brunette complained, rubbing her tailbone.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Selina brushed her off. She sat up to level with Raven, but made no move to stand. They sat for a moment in silence before Selina felt compelled to break it. "You know, you've never mentioned the Boy Wonder before now. You've told me about the other three misfits, but you've never told me anything about him."

Raven didn't respond to this except to shrug. She had never noticed her avoidance.

"Well?" Selina asked. "Are you going to tell me about him now? I'd like to know how the kid's doing. I've missed him since he and Bats had that spat and he skipped town."

Raven looked at her friend with a bit of surprise. She had never considered the fact that Robin used to know Catwoman when he was younger. The thought of a younger Robin made her smile. "Alright, I'll tell you about the Boy Blunder, if you tell me what he was like when he was here."

Selina smiled knowingly. "Oh, I've got a few good stories about his early days fighting crime."

Raven thought a few moments before beginning. "Robin has to be the most uptight person I've ever met. Coming from me, that means a lot. He rarely relaxed, and that was only around us. He was always in full costume, although we all always were, I guess. But he was the only one whose real identity I didn't know. The rest of us didn't really have one to hide." Raven breathed out through her nose. She had never realized how much the fact that he always wore a mask bothered her. "It was worse when we were first becoming a team; he really didn't trust us back then. He was intense, obsessive, and secretive, even with us. Once, he became so crazy about catching one villain that he went undercover as a thief to try to get to him, without telling us. He lied to us, created a suit specifically designed to take each of us down, fought us, and stole for an evil maniac. And his plan failed anyway. We gave him a lot of flack for that one. But I think he tried to trust us more after that. He didn't go behind our backs at least."

"That thief persona, what did he call himself?" Selina inquired with narrow eyes.

"Huh?" Raven shook herself out of her own thoughts. "Oh, uh, Red X. He called himself Red X."

Selina seemed shocked. "But Red X is still active; is Robin still stealing?"

"Azar, no. Some jackass stole Robin's suit and started using the persona. It really pissed Robin off. Really pissed all of us off. The guy is a cocky asshole." Raven scowled just thinking about the pain the thief's presence had brought to her team, reminding them all of Robin's betrayal, making Robin obsessive and guilty, and just plain hassling them for the fun of it.

Selina laughed. "Hun, you should know by now how thieves act. We have to be cocky assholes. But Red X is very famous among us thieves. He's almost as good as I am, and I don't give compliments to competition. If people knew that Robin had created Red X..."

"No!" Raven ordered. "People can't know that. Can you imagine the crap Robin would get for that?"

Selina raised her hands innocently, assuring, "Don't worry, I won't tell. It's just good to know. And if Red X ever tries to make any moves on my side of the country, now I have a bit of ammo."

Raven rolled her eyes. "You're as bad as Batman about 'your city.'"

"Damn straight. People don't steal in my town without my OK."

Raven 'humph'ed, and finally stood back up. Selina held out her hand and let Raven pull her up too.

"So the Boy Wonder can make mistakes," Selina mused.

"Of course," Raven agreed. "He's only human. But he is still a great leader. I don't think he was meant to be a sidekick. He was always meant to be the center of attention."

"Center of attention, huh? And when did he catch your attention?" Selina asked as she bent her knees and raised her fists.

Raven took her fighting stance as well, and threw the first punch. It missed, and she jumped ack to dodge Selina's returning right hook. Before attacking again, she answered, "When I first arrived on Earth, he, Cyborg and Beast Boy were battling an enraged Starfire. I stopped them from attacking her because I could sense she was not evil. We all ended up fighting Starfire's alien captors together, and we just sort of became a team after that." As she finished speaking she aimed a front kick at Selina's head.

Selina caught the kick and pulled Raven towards her. Raven used the momentum to lift her other leg and kick her in the stomach. Selina released her leg, and Raven gracefully fell into a backflip, landing on her feet easily.

"That's interesting, hun, but I was actually asking when you fell in love with him," Selina said as Raven hopped forward to attack. At the blonde's words, Raven missed her punch widely, and nearly fell on her face. Selina caught her by the waist, and righted her, looking into the former hero's shocked face.

"What, you thought I wouldn't notice?" Selina asked with one raised eyebrow.

"I- I don't- I mean, I'm not-" Raven stuttered.

Selina took pity on her furiously confounded friend and interrupted, "Calm down. That's not a bad thing."

Raven looked off into the distance, clearing her mind of the initial shock and judging what response to give.

She sighed, resigned. "Am I very obvious?" she asked.

"No. But I have a lot of experience in the realm of loving bats, and I think a sufficient amount of experience reading you. You got that look in your eye while talking about him that did not show up when you talked about Cyborg or the little green one, whose name escapes me."

Raven breathed a laugh at that. "It's nothing worth talking about, I just..."

Selina filled in where Raven left off, "Found yourself suddenly attracted to him, thinking about him all the time, embarrassed whenever he spoke to you and especially if he touched you."

Raven's pale cheeks dusted with a rare blush. "Like I said, it's not worth talking about."

"Why not?"

"Because it's silly and it'll never happen."

"Again I ask, why not?"

Raven rolled her eyes at her. "Is that a serious question?"

Selina crossed her arms with even more attitude than Raven. "Just answer it."

"Because he'd never be interested!" Raven burst out. "Who would be? I'm half demon! I nearly ended the world! My father is the most evil thing in existence, the physical manifestation of my soul was a chilling black wormhole, and my emotions are personified like split personalities in my mind. Who could ever see past all that?"

Selina stared Raven down angrily. "Is _that_ a serious question? Your friends can. Obviously he saw past that every single day you were teammates. Either you think very little of everyone who cares about you- a group which, by the way, includes me- and think we all secretly hate you, _or_ you are using that as an excuse to cover up your insecurities."

Raven was shocked by Selina's anger. Shocked, and more than a little ashamed. Selina was right, and she told her so.

Selina's righteous anger dissipated as soon as Raven spoke. Putting a hand on the shorter woman's shoulder, Selina assured her, "News flash, babe. No one is secure when it comes to love."

"Oh?" Raven quipped. "Even you?"

Selina laughed. "Why do you think I play all these games with him?" she asked rhetorically, referring to the Caped Crusader. "But this is not about me. Tell me about your bat."

Raven was still uncomfortable with this line of conversation, but she gave up resisting. She confessed, "He was just... the person I trusted most. And when you have as few trusted friends as I have, they become extremely important. Plus, he's just..." She sighed, "gorgeous. It was kind of predictable."

"Predictable does not mean doomed, or even unrequited," Selina offered.

"Yeah, but Starfire always seemed head-over-heels for him, so I always felt so guilty even thinking about him."

"Ooh, best friends in love with the same guy," Selina commented, "sounds like great fodder for a rom-com."

Raven snorted. "Nah. Star clung to him because he was the first human she met, he helped her a lot, and he was attractive. But she didn't really get him, you know? She told me that; she could acknowledge that she never understood how repressive he was. She can't relate to him, and he never really let her try."

"She sounds like a very smart girl," Selina observed.

Raven nodded. "She's surprisingly self-aware. I didn't think she was very introspective until we started meditating together."

"You miss her."

Raven agreed to that. "She's my best friend."

There was a lapse in the conversation for a few minutes, until Selina suggested they move into the living room for some tea. After migrating, when Raven had a cup of herbal tea in her hands, she returned to her earlier subject.

"You know, sometimes I think they would be really good together."

Selina looked over from her side of the couch. "Who? Robin and Starfire?"

"Yeah. Like, she'd be really healthy for him, and they could be really happy together."

Selina thought about it for a while. "From what you've told me, you're probably right. They would be happy." She could see Raven flinch in pain. "But just for a little while. Eventually, he would start putting his 'duty' before her, just like his mentor. And Starfire would put up with it, because she would love him with her whole heart. And eventually he would get tired of hurting her, and he would end it. Then he would be as alone and brooding as Batman, and she would still be in love with him, and I doubt she would ever really be able to move on."**

Raven was silent as she pictured her friends' lives playing out exactly like Selina described. She could see it unfolding just like that, and it hurt her to imagine Robin as alone and obsessive again as he was during the Slade-debacle. But it hurt her even more to imagine love ruined for Starfire for the rest of her life. Such a loving soul didn't deserve that lingering heartbreak.

"How could I hold up any better in that scenario?" she asked.

Selina smirked, glad that Raven seemed to even consider it a possibility. "Because, hun. You and Robin are both independent souls. You could deal with it when his attention is somewhere else. You're tough that way."

* * *

They spent most of that day talking about Raven's love life, but a week later it was the furthest thing from their minds as they broke into a jewelery store through an upper floor window. No alarms went off, which relieved them, and they searched for a staircase to bring them to the second floor, where the recent shipment of uncut diamonds was being kept safe.

Well, it would be safe if not for them. Talon smirked.

Catwoman used one clawed finger to unlock the door to the second floor. Once they were in, they were out again in less than five minutes with a sizable bag of uncut diamonds.

Selina loved uncut diamonds because she could sell them or have them cut, and they could never be traced. Raven liked their rough appearance, the bright promise of clarity beneath the opaque outside. It was kind of symbolic to her.

So, each with a bag of stolen diamonds which combined were worth upwards of a million dollars- making it the largest single theft of Talon's career so far- the two cat-burglars climbed out of a hole Talon carved in the second floor window, and gracefully jumped onto the fire escape of the neighboring building.

They climbed onto that building's roof and from there jumped from building to building until they were several blocks away and felt they were out of sight if anyone was alerted to their successful heist.

Their jobs, although no two were the same, had become easy. They were in sync when they were on task, and maneuvered the various banks, museums, and jewelry stores with practiced style. Catwoman enjoyed having a partner, which she had never expected, even up to the night she dragged the ex-hero on that first robbery. But after the nearly three months living and working together, she knew she would miss the woman who was now like a younger sister when she decided to leave. She knew Raven would be leaving soon. After their talk the week before, when Raven acknowledged not only her feelings for Robin, but how much she missed Starfire, Selina could feel their impending separation.

When they stopped running, Catwoman and Talon looked at each other to grin with pride, each holding half of their load in a clawed hand. Through the sound of their panting, however, they suddenly heard a gruff voice in the alley below. And the voice made the both of them scowl with anger.

"You get what you pay for," the voice was saying.

Another voice joined the first, this one younger sounding, but sick, and pleading. "This is all I got. I'll bring you more money tomorrow, I just need some tonight, please."

The two women on the roof didn't need to hear anymore to know exactly what was going down in that alleyway.

Catwoman practically growled, while Talon glared straight ahead, raging inside in a way that would have been dangerous when she had powers.

"I hate drug dealers," the two thieves hissed at the same time.

They looked at each other for a second. Catwoman nodded.

Without any further signal, the two leather-clad women flipped off of the roof and into the alley. They landed on either side of the dealer, with Talon closer to the junkie, who was clinging weakly to the brick beside him.

The dealer started stringing curses in fear. From what he said, he thought that Batman had come to shut him down, but when he realized the figures were that of two women, he seemed to relax.

That was the wrong move.

"Go home, boy," Talon told the junkie, whose blonde hair was clean enough to signify he had a home to go back to. "Go to your parents, and get help."

The teenager took offense to that, and started complaining that he could take care of himself, and he just wanted his stuff, which all seriously enraged Talon.

When she couldn't take it anymore, she threw him up against the brick wall and growled, "Leave. Check into rehab before morning, or I'll hunt you down myself. Don't doubt me, boy, I will find you."

Obviously terrified by Talon's angry demeanor and threats, he rushed off, hopefully towards a hospital.

Talon turned back to the dealer. He had shouted for his protection, and they had arrived while her back was turned.

"Oh, good," Catwoman purred. "Punching bags."

Talon smirked. Four thugs stood between the two women and the dealer, who started backing out of the alley.

"Oh no you don't," growled the younger woman as she took a running jump and vaulted over the thugs, following the object of her fury. His eyes widened as she rushed after him and he turned to run away in earnest. He wasn't fast enough to escape Talon, who caught him before he ran into the street, and pulled him by the jacket down to the sidewalk.

As he groaned from the pain of his head hitting the concrete, Talon moved to stand over him. His eyes opened to see her glaring down at him for a split second before her fist descended and hit him in the gut harder than he thought any woman could. He nearly puked from the force of the hit.

As she continued punching the man on a public sidewalk, drawing blood from his nose when she punched his ugly face, Talon felt the weight of the stolen jewels on her hip.

The irony was obvious. A criminal holding half a million dollars in stolen diamonds beating the shit out of a drug dealer? Yeah, that was a contradiction. And she savored it.

She'd never been in the grey area between good and evil. It was new, and exhilarating.

The drug dealer had lost consciousness during her musings, and she pulled back before doing serious damage. The injuries she had given him were mostly superficial, so his already ugly face was swollen and bloody, which satisfied her anger.

She stepped away from him, and suddenly she felt the spark of her powers at her fingertips, felt the control in her mind. Her eyes went wide, before she shut the, to focus on the feeling, trying to discover why they were appearing now.

But she never got the chance to investigate, because Catwoman had let one of the dealer's thugs run away from her, and he had sneaked up behind Talon to deliver a punch to her head. The blow snapped her head forward, and almost made her fall forward. She caught herself, but she lost the thread of her soul-self she had been trying to manipulate, and that just pissed her off.

She turned on the thug and kicked him in the groin, making him fall to his knees in agony. Raven punched him in the nose, and he fell to the ground, unconscious.

Raven thumbed her nose in satisfaction at the two bodies on the ground. She grabbed the both by the ankles and dragged the back into the alley where Catwoman was just finishing up knocking out the last of them. Talon pulled out her burn phone and called the cops, telling them where they could find the dealer's body.

"That felt good," Catwoman said as they grappled back up to the roof to wait out of sight for the cops to pick up their garbage. "Sorry I let one get away from me, but you handled it fine, right?"

Talon looked over at her partner. She pulled off her goggles and roughed up her short hair.

"I felt my powers for a second. They're not gone, Selina," Raven said in a shocked voice, the enormity of the moment only just sinking in.

"I need to figure out how to get them back."

* * *

**Note: This is pretty much what actually happened between Dick and Kory in the comics. Honestly, I feel bad for Kory, because Dick moved on with Babs (I love dickxbabs btw) but Kory got the shit end of the stick, and she never really got over him (until the New 52, but of course, we all know why THAT is no improvement). Anyway, I guess I don't need to apologize for that because if you ship RobStar, you probably wouldn't have clicked on this story... whatever.

So anyway, sorry again for the wait, hope you'll forgive me. Life is not always what one would wish. I have exams for the next couple weeks now... Help.

Thanks so much to everyone who has reviewed! I can't believe how popular this has been! It makes me really happy that people like this story.

Raven will be heading back to Jump soon! Get excited!

Cheers!


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